This invention relates to a connector of the type in which double retaining is effected by a retainer.
Many conventional connectors adopt a so-called double retaining construction for positively preventing withdrawal of a metal terminal. In such a construction, as shown in FIG. 5, an elastic piece 32 (called a lance) is formed within a terminal receiving hole 31 formed in a connector housing 30 (hereinafter "housing"). A metal terminal 33 is resiliently retained by the lance (in a provisional retaining condition shown in solid lines in FIG. 5), and a retainer 34 is fitted in the housing 30 to be engaged with a jaw 35 of the metal terminal 33 (in a complete retaining condition shown in phantom in FIG. 5). Thus, the metal terminal 33 is retained against withdrawal by two retainers.
However, several problems are encountered in the above conventional construction, because the lance 32 is formed within the terminal receiving hole 31. Because the lance 32 is of a complicated shape and formed in the narrow terminal receiving hole 31, the construction of the housing, as well as the construction of a mold, inevitably becomes complicated. Further, the internal space of the terminal receiving hole 31 must be enough to accommodate the lance 32 and also to allow the flexing of the lance 32, and accordingly the housing 30 is increased in size.
For withdrawing the metal terminal 33, the retainer 34 is first removed from the housing 30, and then the lance 32 is disengaged. In this case, a special tool is inserted into the terminal receiving hole 31 from its open front end, and the lance is forcibly flexed and deformed by the tool. At this time, in some cases, the lance may be damaged so that it can not be used again, and also the metal terminal 33 may be damaged by the tool impinging on the metal terminal.
Further, in the conventional construction, provisional retaining iS effected by the lance 32 whereas complete retaining is effected by the retainer 34. Thus, the different kinds of retainers effect their respective withdrawal prevention operations at different positions in the direction of the length of the metal terminal 33. Therefore, unless the two positions are accurately determined, proper assembling cannot be carried out. Therefore, in such a conventional construction, the tolerance of the respective dimensions is required to be extremely high, thus resulting in prohibitively high manufacturing costs.